The Hunt Begins

Faith showed no signs of nervousness but hurried as fast as she could to the front gate of Shadows Onset. Staying there would be her end if the mysterious man she just finished talking to caught onto her plot. 

Faith inched closer and closer to the exit gate, making eye contact with the guards. Using one of her abilities, she alerted them.

[Leave this place now. A dangerous man is here]

The message appeared in their eyes, similar to how the System used to speak to Sky. She learned to telepathically communicate with other people using her acute control of Strands. They listened to the message in their eyes, immediately dispersing from the gate in front.

From there, a large rock about the size of a house in Shadows Onset plummeted down right in front of the gate, blocking escapes for normal humans who couldn't use Strands. The loud rumbling alerted everybody in their houses, and windows opened simultaneously to the shaking heard outside. Faith had saved the lives of the two guards at the gate.

"I'm not the biggest fan of liars, but I don't usually keep company with many. I hate liars. What is your real name, Shinigami?" Finny asked Faith. She remained latent, staring at him with annoyance as he jumped from the roof of a nearby building down the ground about six feet in front of her. Noticing his stature as the Strands dissipated near his legs as he landed, she grew worried.

This man wasn't an ordinary, run-of-the-mill villain she's encountered.

He was serious, and he was dangerous.

"It seems like you already know, based on the way you're asking me. Why not take a stab at it? You might be surprised with how right you are," Faith said. From her right hand, Faith summoned a golden saber, holding it at a diagonal angle from her body.

"Faith Asterio, my target," Finlis told her. She nodded almost instantly, smiling wickedly.

"Tell me your name now, since you know that I'm Faith Asterio," She said. Faith began to put momentum in her feet to dodge if need be, looking around with a skeptical gaze at the citizens. They weren't even trying to leave. 

"Finlis Vega, it's nice to meet you," He confessed. Faith was unsure of the name 'Vega', but knew that it was widely feared four hundred years ago. Hearing it arise again spoke of an omen so horrid that it put fear into her bones she hadn't felt since that time.

"Vega? Is that made up or something? Heh," Faith chuckled in front of him. Finny wasn't exactly upset, but he wasn't pleased with her nonchalant attitude either. He had to put fear into her that would make her quiver at the sound of his voice.

"So be it. I've been known to inject fear into the ignorant, this will be no different. Ghost, tell me her abilities and weaknesses," Finlis asked the voice in his mind.

Faith stood nervously, realizing that Finlis had access to a System within his mind that Sky used to. The second she realized, Faith made her first move, running in, and swinging down at Finlis.

To Faith's surprise, Finlis caught the Golden Saber in her hand and held it with no problems. It didn't cut through his hand, nor deal damage at all. She was more than shocked, immediately back tracking and dropping the saber while it was stuck in his hands.

"Oh? I haven't seen one of these in a while, let alone held them. The last one was so much hotter... this is cold, far too cold," Finlis said. he clasped his hand shut, smashing the structure of the Strands and completely destroying it until it fell to the ground while sparking.

"What?" Faith asked. It was the first time she heard such a ridiculous thing, and attributed his words to be a threatening statement to her. She didn't listen, and summoned another one to swing it down at his head while he was distracted. The saber hit him in the top of the head, and shattered from the impact one more time.

As soon as the saber shattered, Finlis grabbed Faith by her throat and lifted her off of the ground. If he squeezed any tighter, it would've broken her neck. 

"I like to play with my food a little before I get to munching," Finlis said. he bore his teeth, licking the sharp, inhumane fangs that sprouted out of his mouth. The body mutilation that she witnessed was scaring her beyond belief. The sharp fangs pierced his jaw and turned his entire body into a mess of blood and corroded skin.

"You won't run, will you?" Finlis asked. He threw Faith as hard as his muscles would let him, crashing her into a nearby house and killing every last person residing within with the force of her impact.

Faith hit the cliff from the opposite side, watching the house ignite in flames and exploded in a red mist that blinded her. From the red mist, Finlis walked smugly, with each shoulder moving back and forth at great lengths, and a devious smile about his face.

"What's wrong, Faithy? Scared of an opponent with a little bit of strength?" Finlis asked her. He drove his heel into the ground and kicked up the ground, pulling Faith to his position and grabbing onto her leg this time around. She still wasn't too afraid, but knew the battle would turn dire.

Faith kicked out of his grasp, cutting her leg off in the process to flee. Finlis sent a mess of projectiles made from the rock she kicked up and sent it at Faith. Unfortunately, it was what she was born to do.

More easily that Finlis overpowered Faith initially, she cut down each projectile with no errors at all, blowing each shard to smithereens before it even got close to her body. Finlis was stunned, unable to believe that she was capable of such a feat. 

Faith ran into smoke as fast as she could, disappearing into the dark place and perfectly out of Finlis's view.